Chicken, Toasted Garlic & Veggie Pasta

First I have to admit that the photo is not using GF pasta.  My daughter who is GF had the flu the day I served this and she didn't want to eat anything, so I didn't have to make her pasta.   That said, it had been a long day and I needed something fast so I went to my Rachel Ray Express Meals cookbook and went searching.  I came upon "Toasted Garlic & Sweet Pea Pasta" that I had been wanting to try for a while, but was always missing one or more ingredients.  Well I still didn't have enough peas but decided to make it work anyway, by using the end of a bag of broccoli.  I also decided it needed chicken.  Let me say, this was DIVINE!!  It was so good I ended up freezing it in portion sizes so I could eat it later.  I am definately going to make this again.  If you are worried about it being too garlicky, it isn't.  The garlic seems to just melt into the sauce and compliments perfectly.  I think I am going to try adding toasted sliced almonds next time, I think it would give a great crunch.

Chicken, Toasted Garlic & Veggie Pasta  
(printer friendly recipe)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 chicken breast halves, chopped
1 lb pasta
1/4-1/3 olive oil
5 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lg onion, finely chopped
1 med green pepper, finely chopped
1/2 tsp dried thyme
salt, to taste (about 1/4 tsp for me)
black pepper, to taste (about 1/4 tsp for me)
2 3/4 C chicken broth
1-10 oz box of frozen peas
1 small bag of frozen broccoli
3 T dried parsley
1 C grated Parmesan Cheese (opt)
1/4 tsp sliced almonds, toasted (opt.)

1. In a medium skillet cook heat 1 Tbsp olive oil and cook chicken until golden brown.
2. Cook pasta according to package directions, be sure to save about 1/2 C of the pasta water for the sauce.
3. In a large skillet heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat and add the sliced garlic.  Cook until golden brown, careful garlic goes from golden to black quickly.  Remove garlic to a paper towel lined plate. 
4. Turn the heat up to med-high and add the red pepper flakes, onion, green pepper, thyme, salt and pepper.  Cook, being sure to stir frequently, until the onions and green pepper are tender and the onions start to brown.  Add the chicken stock and cook for about 4 minutes.  Add the peas, broccoli, cooked chicken and 1/2 C pasta water (if doing GF & regular pasta be sure to get water from the GF pasta pan).  Bring the sauce to a boil and add the parsley and garlic slices.  Stir to combine and taste to determine if it needs more salt and pepper, add if necessary.
5. Pour sauce over pasta and and stir to combine.  Add cheese and stir.  If the sauce is too thick you can add more chicken broth.  Pass cheese at the table for those who want more.